


Untitled

by Victor (skaryzgik)



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skaryzgik/pseuds/Victor
Summary: This is still in progress. As such, I may still make edits to the parts I've already posted.At this time, suggestions for better titles are welcome, though the current title may end up actually being suitable.Feedback about tags, formatting, etc also welcome. (I'm new at this lol)My current plan is to post each chapter after I get to the end of initially writing the following chapter. This is to help reduce the number of edits I'd need to make after posting. But there's still a chance I might need to fix things.





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> This is still in progress. As such, I may still make edits to the parts I've already posted.
> 
> At this time, suggestions for better titles are welcome, though the current title may end up actually being suitable.
> 
> Feedback about tags, formatting, etc also welcome. (I'm new at this lol)
> 
> My current plan is to post each chapter after I get to the end of initially writing the following chapter. This is to help reduce the number of edits I'd need to make after posting. But there's still a chance I might need to fix things.

In a forest, by a stream, a biped hovers, cross-legged, sitting upon the air, a few feet above the grass. Dangling mere inches above the ground was the bottom edge of a white cape, flapping lightly in the gentle breeze, hanging from a bulky mantle projecting out from the figure's shoulders. Upon his slightly-bowed head, a purple-topped white turban rests just above the bases of his green ears, mirrored in shape by the shoulder-points. A matching purple is his loose-fitting outfit, with the pants reaching all the way to his orange, pointed shoes. His arms, however, are exposed, aside from the coverage from the mantle and cape, with his hands resting in his lap in front of him.

Suddenly, from behind him, a sense of foreboding is felt. His eyes snap open, but he finds himself briefly immobilized, as the feeling crescendos swiftly into a brief moment of terror. As it lowers back down through an unsettling weirdness... tasting? vaguely of... tentacles? he manages to wrench himself free, whirling on the spot, planting his feet firmly on the ground, in time to see before him wriggly wisps of indeterminate smokiness retracting back into a... hole? in... the air? at roughly his eye level. But his eyes couldn't remain pointing at it, as though that direction very nearly didn't exist at all. When the wisps were finally gone, there was a disconcertingly squishy popping sound. And as suddenly as the whole thing had started, it seemed to be over.

Under where the... event? had occurred, there stood a person, facing him, looking at the ground, arms out for stability. His eyes were flickering rapidly and erratically between two different colors--or were they simply both colors at once? A pale, almost greyish blue, not particularly common but also not completely unexpected. But also a bright, glowing, smoldering, dappled mottled purple. Not like anything he'd seen in anything resembling human before, but otherwise this person seemed very human.

"How did I manage to get it *more* wrong?!?" the newcomer shouted, collapsing almost immediately afterwards. He was still breathing, and didn't seem to be injured. Perhaps exhausted. His energy felt roughly on the scale of an average human, maybe slightly higher. It didn't specifically feel malicious, but something about it made the observer feel dizzy when his attention was on it.

<P- Piccolo?> he felt the familiar young voice in his head.

<I take it you felt that too, Dende?>

<I'm still having trouble sensing detail at this distance, but I felt something very big near where you are. Did it really taste like tentacles?>

<I never would have expected energy to have a taste at all, nor do I even have any idea what tentacles would even taste like, but I can't think of any better way to describe that feeling.>

<Can you tell me what happened?>

He remembered the whispy strands, or more precisely, his mind's inability to direct itself towards them.

<I... no. Apparently not. But there's a person here now. Can you feel him?>

<I... think so? Roughly normal human level of energy? But... it's... hard to look at? What is he doing?>

<Sleeping, by the looks of it. I can't focus on him either. Should... we do something about this?>

<I think we need to figure out what's going on. If neither of us can even look at his energy properly, how can we be sure it won't interact adversely with the energies around him? If we can, we should get him somewhere we can observe him better.>

<What about Kame House? They're not too close to any towns. They can probably make extra space for one more person--they made space for several when we needed it in a pinch a few months ago. And if something unexpected does happen, everyone who lives there has a better chance of handling themselves than most.>

<That's a great idea! Can you reach Roshi? I think you might explain better than me since you were there.>

Piccolo tried reaching out with his mind, as he had several times before. But he quickly felt dizzy, and couldn't even feel at all the usually strong beacon-like points of energy of any of his friends.

<I... I can't even feel them... I can't feel any of them... No one... not even the nearest towns... I think it's some kind of interference from this person here?>

<Hmmm... Now that you mention it, I do feel you much more faintly than I would usually expect for your distance. I had thought you were merely being stealthy to watch whatever had happened, but if he's asleep you'd have no need to hide. I'll see if I can connect you to anyone at Kame House?>

A few brief moments pass.

<Piccolo, they... they're all yelling? I don't think they can hear me...>

<Dende... you are the Guardian of this Planet. I'm pretty sure you could *make* them hear you if you wanted to...>

<Yeah, but... I don't want to interrupt... they seem busy...>

Piccolo sighed. <What about... what was her name, the inventor, who housed all the Namekians while we waited to borrow Porunga? She might be able to invent something about this interference.>

<Bulma!> Piccolo could almost feel Dende's face light up. <But... I think Vegeta might live there now? He hasn't left in months now. Is... that going to be a bad idea?>

Vegeta *lives* there now? This seems like one of those things Tenshinhan or Yamcha would laugh about. Yamcha only if he had finished sulking yet, that is.

But would that be a problem? Well... what specifically would he even be motivated to interfere *with*? And besides, if Bulma's working on something, she wouldn't put up with any interference. No one's forgotten that shirt she made him wear, even... years later? Time is weird...

<As long as it's still Bulma's house, I don't think she'd let Vegeta cause any problems. Can you ask?>

<She's less sensitive; she'd be harder to reach.... Oh! But Gohan's there! We can ask him to ask for us! One moment!>

A few moments pass.

<Piccolo! Are you okay? Were you next to that giant energy spike? Wasn't that right next to one of your favorite meditation spots? I can't feel anything there now! It's like there's a big cloud there, blurring everything! If I weren't in the middle of babysitting, I'd be on my way already to see what happened!>

Gohan had been noticing where he'd been going to meditate?

<Yeah, I was there. It was... very unusual. I... don't know how to describe it. But this person appeared, who seems to be giving off some sort of energy, unlike anything I've sensed before, and Dende and I thought Bulma might be able to help us figure out what's going on, or if this energy would break anything.>

<Break... break what? I've only seen high energies break things, but the big spike went away already.>

<I... don't know how to explain that right now. We might not even need to worry about it. But we think Bulma can help us be sure. Can you ask her for us?>

<She's in one of the labs right now, but I can ask her.>

Piccolo could hear one side of the conversation.

"Hey, Bulma, got a minute?... No, Trunks is fine. Piccolo, uh... "called." He found a person, giving off some weird kind of energy, and wants you to test it... He said to see if it would 'break anything' but he didn't explain what he meant by that. But there's some sort of interference or something near him, so I can't feel where he is, so maybe it has to do with that?... Didn't you used to have some sort of radar we used on Namek?... No, but didn't Freeza's soldiers have something that could detect people? Maybe your radar could be tuned or something?... Okay, I'll tell him."

<She says bring him over; she'll start getting something ready for him now.>

<Good.> Piccolo took a couple steps closer to the sleeping person. Now, with the initial excitement over, he noticed his outfit. It looked like some sort of patchwork of two different things (or, like the eyes, possibly being wholly both at once?) but looking at the edges of the patches proved both impossible and dizzying. Since the sizes of the patches seemed non-constant and possibly indeterminate, that might present somewhat of a difficulty. He held out an arm, palm facing the person. With a beam of light there was now a blanket over him. The pattern was still a patchwork, but one with actual edges. The colors were the same as those Piccolo had managed to notice from the person's clothing: green, purple, black, and accenting with gold, silver, and white. Now, looking at the person was much less painful, but there was still that dizzying effect from the energy... <Hey, Gohan? I might need to fly a little more slowly than usual. This weird energy might make it a bad idea to go too fast...>

<That's okay,> Gohan sounded worried now. <Let us know if you need any help.>

<I'm sure Dende will keep an eye on me. I was going to bring him back some water from my favorite glacier after my meditation today, and I suspect he's still excited about that.>

<Okay, Piccolo! I'll see you soon!>

<Goodbye, Gohan.>

Piccolo slowly and carefully picked up the sleeping person, carefully making sure to wrap the blanket around him to cover the impossibly-patterned clothing. Step by step, he started his trip: he closed his eyes, took a deep breath to clear his mind, and began slowly focusing his energy. Slowly, he lifted himself a few inches off the ground and hovered, making sure he was steady before continuing. Trying to move too quickly was still dizzying, but with carefulness and focus, movement could still be managed. He opened his eyes, to see where he was going, and raised himself a few more feet, over the tops of the trees, and hovered another few moments. He carefully turned to face the direction he needed to travel and, more confident about how much to compensate for the unsettling interference, started moving at some fraction of his usual flight speed. Shortly thereafter, he felt the person stirring in his arms, awakening.

"We're flying?" the person asked, quietly.

"Yeah. Seemed like a bad idea to just leave you there. Taking you to a friend who might be able to help figure out what's going on. Sounded like you weren't entirely sure either?"

"Blargh! How many more people are my failures going to inconvenience?"

"That seems like... a weird way to put it. But I guess I wouldn't be the one to know."

At this, Piccolo noticed the energy of the carried person change, and slowed down to look. He was blushing, and looking away. But at least his eyes had a definable color now, only blue, and not flickering with the purple.

"We're slowing down? Are we there?"

"No. Your energy changed, and with the weird way it feels in the first place, I had to make sure it wouldn't interfere with my balance."

His face lit up, corresponding to yet another change in energy. (At least now it felt a bit less ominous!) "Oh? What 'energy' do you mean?"

"It..." How does one even begin *explaining* something like this? "It's sometimes called 'ki'?"

The carried person looked thoughtful. "Is this one of those things that's easier to show than explain?"

"Well, it's how I'm flying. Everyone--and everything--has it. But most people don't seem to know how to use it."

"The magic here does feel very weird, but it does feel less confusing than when I first got here. I think I might be starting to acclimate. But the difference does still make me feel very tired. Maybe I'll acclimate even faster if I sleep more."

Piccolo did notice that although the person's energy was higher while awake than while asleep (as would be expected), it did also feel less intensely *weird* than it did initially. Piccolo could even feel a small town they were passing near. This would seem consistent with the carried person--and his energy--acclimating to the new environment. Maybe once he went back to sleep, he could pick up the speed more.

After a bit of wiggling from the carried person, this indeed turned out to be exactly what occurred. Piccolo still didn't want to try *full* speed, but he was beginning to feel comfortable enough to go nearly his usual non-emergency speed. He soon found himself over the sprawling metropolis of West City. The person he carried was awoken by the deceleration and began watching their surroundings during their descent. The buildings near the edges mostly dome shaped and quite far apart. Nearer the middle, a mix of clusters of domes surrounded by green-space, and rectangles surrounded by pavement. In one of the most crowded clusters of domes, one was bigger than the others, and had more green space around it. And it was that dome which they were approaching, and it was that dome in front of which Piccolo landed, his feet touching the ground with timing so precise that no sound was emitted. He placed the carried person down, who started to unwrap himself from the blanket, but quickly changed his mind and opted to hold the blanket around himself instead.

"This is a very nice blanket. Very comfy too."

Piccolo didn't answer, other than brief eye contact to serve as acknowledgment. The door they were approaching was already open, with a spiky-haired child standing there.

"Piccolo! You're here! Bulma says she'll be ready soon! What happened? Who's this? . Hey, let's all sit down!" The child stepped out of the way and held open the door, motioning the other two inside.

That pause had been quick enough for the still-sleepy newcomer to miss, but didn't escape Piccolo's swift senses. He caught that brief look of confusion, but only sensed relatively mild unease.

The three of them went into an area just off the entryway. There were several couches and chairs around a small table, and a small television nearby. Near a wall was a table, with a chair facing away from the television, with several books stacked, a couple open, and some papers. Not far from the table was a high-walled playpen... with a mesh cover tied over the top? ... and a small child crawling around playing with something rattly.

A door next to the table and playpen was open, and through it could be seen part of a large room with big trees inside. A small creature ran by, about the size of a chicken, but with much more needle-like feathers.

"Was that... a dinosaur? In there?" the newcomer asked.

"Probably," said the kid who'd let them in. "Bulma's parents really love animals. I'm not even sure how many cats, dogs, and dinosaurs they have. My name's Gohan, what's yours?"

The newcomer blinked, thought for about a second, and shrugged. "I'm not sure yet."

"You've forgotten?" Gohan looked concerned.

"No. I remember just fine, it's just.... Names are very important, and I don't know yet what name fits me *here*."

"...Oh." Gohan looked confused. But he had seen a brief two-eyebrow-raise from Piccolo and could tell he'd liked the answer. "So... Piccolo says you suddenly appeared when the big energy... thing... happened? Do you know what happened?"

The newcomer blushed slightly and tried frantically to find some words to stick together. "Eh... well... it's a bit of a long story.... I guess I'll have to tell it at some point though; I guess I may as well start--"

"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting." Suddenly in the doorway to the tree-room was a woman with pastel-blue hair. She looked at the one unfamiliar face in the room. "I'm Bulma! I've been preparing a room for you. Piccolo, if you could help us test?"

Piccolo stood and waited for the newcomer to also rise, and to proceed to follow Bulma, before following himself, in the back. Bulma led the way down a hallway, down a staircase, and along another hallway. Although they went along the edge of the tree-room, there was unfortunately no time to stop and admire the trees along the way. "So," she started, "what's your name?"

The newcomer blushed slightly, again, and shrugged.

"Memory loss, huh? I guess it stands to reason we should also run some tests how all this has affected *you*, and not just how you might be affecting your surroundings."

"N-no. I haven't forgotten anything. At least not that I know of. I just--" the newcomer flailed mentally, looking for words again. Bulma tilted her head in confusion, waiting a few seconds for the end of the sentence, which, luckily, did finally come. "...I don't know yet what I want to be called *here*."

Bulma's head-tilt increased a few more degrees. "...What do you mean? Is something wrong with the name you were already using?"

The newcomer looked even more flustered, trying to find even more words now that those had apparently somehow also failed. Piccolo was starting to feel uneasy, which surprised him. He wasn't the one having to try to *explain* things that didn't fit easily into words. But before he had time to ponder this, they had arrived.

"Well, anyway, here we are," Bulma said. "Before we go in, Piccolo, Gohan said something about 'interference,' and it sounded like he was talking about this 'energy' you all sense that I can't. Is that correct?"

Piccolo nodded once.

"Are you still feeling the interference?"

Piccolo nodded again, once.

"What *can* you feel, now?"

Piccolo closed his eyes. "The two of you here. This newcomer feels... unusual, in a way I can't quite articulate, but less so than earlier. His power still feels slightly above what seems to be average for a human, but close to the range they usually fall into. I can feel Gohan's presence in the room we were just in, but much more muted than usual, even considering he's presumably not specifically using his power. I saw Trunks in there too, so I know he's there, but even trying to sense him, I can't feel his presence. I can't feel very many people in the city; it feels like we're in a small village, rather than a large city. I can feel Dende at the Lookout, but only barely. I can't sense any of the other high-power people I can usually sense regardless of where in the world I am or they are." He opened his eyes. "But this is still more than earlier. When I first started on my way here, I could barely sense Dende when he was actively talking to me, and couldn't sense any other people besides him." He pointed at the newcomer with his eyes.

"Thank you, Piccolo," Bulma said. "Now, remember that feeling. Let's go inside." She held out an arm pointing into the room, to let the other two go in before her.

The newcomer entered the room first, noticing first the thickness of the walls, and the heaviness of the door, as he went through the doorway. In the middle of the room were about three or four machines right next to each other in a small circle, about chest or shoulder height, one of which had a console on one side, with a folding chair sideways in front of it, facing two other folding chairs closer to one of the walls. He went next to one of the chairs, and turned to look back at Bulma.

"Yeah, you two can go ahead and sit down if you like," she said. So the newcomer and Piccolo sat down, leaving the chair by the console for Bulma. As they did, there was a "thunk" as she closed and latched the heavy door, before she took her seat.

"If this room works like I hope, and if we end up using it, I'll get more comfortable things for it," said Bulma, "but since I was in a hurry and didn't even know if we'd use it I just got a few simple folding chairs for now." She looked at the screen as she continued, "Since I don't know how to detect this type of energy, I set up machines to detect all of the kinds of energy I *do* know how to detect, in case there's any overlap. Full spectrum electromagnetic, sound, nuclear, even gravity. And the room is set up to block all of them. Except gravity. I haven't yet discovered a way to block that." She looked at Piccolo. "The training room just generates a field that's only the size of the room, so its effects are limited to the desired area without needing to do any blocking." She looked back at the screen, and frowned briefly.

"Hmmm... So, Piccolo, what can you feel now?"

Piccolo closed his eyes again, leaning on the back of his chair, with his arms folded, and his ankles crossed, his feet resting a bit in front of his chair due to the length of his legs. "Interestingly, I can sense more now than I could in the hallway. At the Lookout I can sense not only Dende, but also Mr. Popo, and I can sense Korin at his tower, and even Yajirobe. I can't quite feel the full size of this city, but it feels more like a mid-size town now." He paused. "Wait a minute, doesn't Yamcha live in this city now? If I can sense this much of the city, I'd expect to be able to sense him if he were in it. I guess he must be somewhere else. I can feel that there is power coming from where Kame House is, but I can't distinctly feel the individual people there." He opened his eyes, and was silent.

"Hmm..." Bulma said. "So, I'm not measuring any anomalies in this room. All levels of everything detected are within the range of what would be expected for three people. I was hoping maybe by chance the room would block out at least some energy, by chance or something, but it sounds like it might even conduct it *better* somehow?"

"I don't think that is the case," said Piccolo. "I can sense you more strongly too. I think the interference is less than a few moments ago." He looked at the newcomer. "His energy doesn't feel any weaker, but does feel slightly different in quality. Still unusual, but less unsettling." Bulma now looked at him too.

"Hmm..." she said again. "Well, I can't detect anything dangerous, and whatever this 'energy' thing is doesn't seem to be something I'm capable of blocking. So I guess, as long as Piccolo doesn't think your presence would be dangerous?" she looked at Piccolo, who shook his head slightly, "then I guess I may as well have a more normal room prepared for you. Since you just sort of appeared, and it sounded like you were just as surprised as we are, I'm guessing you don't already have anywhere specific to go. I have plenty of space here; you're free to stay until you figure out where you want to go or what you want to do."

The newcomer blinked, surprised. "Th-thank you!"

Bulma stood up from her chair, and walked over to the door to open it. "Well, I guess the two of you may as well go back upstairs. I'll be up in a minute, once I've given one of the bots instructions." She stood next to the now-open doorway as Piccolo and the newcomer rose and exited the room. Piccolo let the newcomer leave the room first, but once in the hallway, the newcomer stopped, trying to let Piccolo pass.

"I... forgot the way already..." he quietly said, apologetically. Piccolo raised one eyebrow briefly, but then proceeded to lead the way back upstairs to the room they'd been sitting in earlier.

Gohan was sitting at the table with the books and papers, with a pencil in his hand, but was already turned to face the doorway before they arrived.

"Piccolo! How'd it go?"

"Apparently Bulma was unsuccessful attempting to determine how to detect or block ki energy. But she also said--"

Suddenly, a crashing sound from outside! A door slam from further inside the building! Continuing sounds from outside! Pounding footsteps racing closer from inside! The door between the entryway and the tree room slammed open the rest of the way, and the newcomer was shoved--hard--into the nearby wall, noticing little else other than the mass of black, very stiff, and nearly vertical hair briefly in his face. At the other end of the room, the door to the outside opened.

"Vegeta, no!" shouted Gohan.

"Krillin, get down!" shouted Piccolo, at nearly the same time.

A loud beam of light shot out the now-open door from the hands, held out in front of him, of the one who'd just burst into the room from deeper in the building. The beam was gone almost immediately, as he turned in annoyance to look at Gohan with a frown, eyebrows in a sharp, angular v-shape that looked very well-practiced.

In the still-open doorway to outside, a person wearing orange was curled up ducking on the ground, arms protecting a shaved-bald head. After a few seconds of silence, he picked up his head to look around. Little dot-scars could be seen on his forehead, in two columns. He slowly stood up, frowned, and opened his mouth to speak, but the shouting came from the other direction.

"Vegeta! What's the big idea, shoving me into the wall like that!" Bulma shouted, her teeth looking... much pointier than earlier? "Didn't anyone ever teach you to say 'excuse me'!?!"

Vegeta, who had been frowning at Gohan, now turned to face Bulma. "I heard a commotion outside! I thought there was an intruder!"

"It's clearly Krillin! And you blasted him anyway! You could have hurt our friend! Or the building! Or Trunks!"

"I was *protecting* Trunks! I knew exactly where he was!"

As the shouting match continued, the newcomer looked around, still somewhat dazed, unsure of what to do. He looked at Piccolo, standing very tall, but with his head slightly hunched, eyes narrow, watching the argument, frowning, with his arms folded in front of him. Still feeling lost, the newcomer looked at Gohan, who was sitting on his knees, backwards in his chair, also watching the argument. Gohan rolled his eyes and looked around the rest of the room. Seeing Krillin still near the doorway, he got out of his chair and walked over to him.

"So..." Krillin said. "They, uh, yell like this a lot, do they?"

"Eh," Gohan shrugged. "Just often enough to be boring. What brings you here?"

"Oh! I was hoping Bulma could help me with something."

"Tech?"

"No..." Krillin said. "Not this time."

The yelling was continuing. "How is this *my* fault?!? I heard sounds of destruction outside, felt high power levels nearby, and couldn't recognize any of them. Of *course* I was going to protect my home! If anything, Krillin shouldn't have snuck up on the house like this and then start knocking over everything outside!"

Bulma had opened her mouth to shout back, but paused. When she continued, she was no longer yelling. "...You couldn't tell it was Krillin?"

Vegeta, confused by the sudden change in tone, was still using a raised voice, but somewhat less so. "No! How did he even do that??"

Bulma was silent, but looked past him at the newcomer, still leaning on the wall. Everyone else in the room, noticing the sudden silence, followed her gaze. The wall was visibly dented where the newcomer was leaning. When he noticed everyone else looking at him, his eyes widened, and darted around the room looking at all of the people looking at him. After what felt like an eternity, Vegeta too turned around to look at him.

"Who the hell is this?!?" he yelled. The newcomer's eyes widened even further, and locked onto Vegeta's. As if the awkwardness earlier weren't bad enough, even being stared at by everyone at once who he'd met here so far, now the angry person was paying attention to him too. After another fraction of a second, "and why does his energy feel so weird??"

"I-I--" the newcomer started, trying to back further into the still-solid wall. Finding no room to back up further, he flattened himself a bit into the dent he was leaning in, feeling a bizarre combination of comfort from feeling less exposed due to the concavity, but also fear, remembering what had *caused* that concavity and seeing that same anger directed at himself. Staring directly into those sharp eyes, which, despite their extreme narrowness, felt, due to their intensity, large enough to fill a universe, the newcomer detected a very brief flicker of something, and flinched, startled. Whatever that was which had flickered through that face, it was quickly replaced by slightly more anger, but very slightly different in quality than before. Intrigued by this difference, the newcomer began to forget his fear, and looked into those eyes more intently, observing and even exploring the feeling of the anger he could *feel* directed at himself.

But there wasn't time for much observation, since the expression soon began to soften. His eyes remained narrow, and his eyebrows distinctly v-shaped, but when he next opened his mouth to speak, it was at almost normal speaking volume, and sounded more annoyed than the intense anger of moments before.

"Would anyone like to explain to me what is going on in my own house?"

Bulma opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, not having quite determined where to start.

"And why," Vegeta continued, his tone and expression shifting slightly towards confusion, "are you wearing a blanket?"

The newcomer blinked, face momentarily blank, having forgotten about the blanket in all the excitement, but somehow still having managed to hold it on. He smiled, and even let out a couple quick beats of quiet laughter. He looked Vegeta directly in the eyes (suddenly noticing those eyes were a couple of inches lower than his own), stood up straight, took a step away from the wall, and flung his arms to the side, dramatically letting the blanket fall to the floor. "This is why," he said, smiling slightly mischievously.

Piccolo, seeing what was about to happen, had already quit looking, and was watching Vegeta, amused to anticipate his reaction. Everyone else in the room found themselves unable to focus their vision on the clothing, and their eyes, almost by instinct, directing themselves slightly away from it. But Vegeta, being so close, and having been focusing so intently on the newcomer, had no such luck. He couldn't look *away*. Unnoticed by anyone else, the newcomer's eyes had a slight flicker of purple to them. Vegeta's eyes, unable to process the impossibility of the contradiction, and the indefinability of the edges of what otherwise seemed like patchiness, darted around various parts of the outfit, widening in confusion, then fear, and even panic. He slowly took a couple of steps back, and brought his arms in front of him as though to keep the newcomer from re-closing the distance.

After the longest few seconds in Vegeta's recent memory, the newcomer, still smiling, bent down to pick up the blanket, and wrapped it mercifully around himself once again. "We have Piccolo to thank for lending me this blanket. I think it looks very nice, and is quite comfortable."

Vegeta remained silent for another couple of seconds. When he had calmed very slightly, and blinked a couple of times, he could finally open his mouth again. "What the hell was that?!?"

The newcomer, feeling in control of a situation for the first time in what felt like ages, was quite enjoying this new confidence.

"Based on the feel of this place, I can only conclude that it is neither the place I am from, nor the place to which I was attempting to travel. Thus, my control over the method of travel is apparently insufficient. It is likely unsafe for me to re-attempt at this time. Luckily, Bulma has very kindly informed me that I am welcome to stay here for the time being. I am not yet quite sure how to proceed, but am hopeful that sometime within the next few days I will think of some starting place."

Vegeta took a few extra seconds to hear what had been said, due to still processing the panic moments earlier. He had experienced greater terror approximately once previously in his life, and re-remembering that incident had not been on his to-do list for the day. Or week. Or year. But then his mind caught up to the words he had just heard.

"Wait, Bulma?" He turned to look at her, taking a step backwards toward the doorway he'd come in through, so he could see them both. "You're letting a complete *stranger* stay here?"

"What, *you're* surprised?" she retorted. "I took *you* in after I *had* met you!"

Vegeta frowned, at nobody in particular. Re-remembering the circumstances that had led to *that* was *also* not on his to-do list. He heard a quiet snicker, and wasn't quite sure if it had been Krillin or Piccolo, but decided not to draw attention to it. This time. He folded his arms in front of him.

"So what now, then?" he said. "Piccolo obviously came here with this person. What about Krillin?" He looked at him. "What are you doing here, and why did you make so much noise outside?"

"Well, uh..." he started. "I wanted to ask Bulma something. But when I got here I, uh... crashed the landing? I was really confused by that at the time, but, uh... I guess we all know why, now." He looked at the newcomer, apologetically. He didn't want to *blame* him, but... something about his energy *was* the reason for what had happened.

"Well?" Vegeta said, impatiently. "What did you need to ask her?"

Krillin looked around at the number of people in the room. "Uh... can I ask... *just* Bulma?"

"Of course you can!" she said, cheerfully, motioning for him to follow her into another room. She turned to glare at Vegeta on her way out.

Suddenly, the newcomer felt... screaming? Confused, he looked around. No one else seemed to be reacting. But then Gohan, having just returned to his chair, stood up, startled, knocking over the chair.

"Dende!" Piccolo shouted, rushing towards the door. Gohan followed.

"Wait," Krillin said, confused. "What's going on? Should I come too?"

Piccolo paused briefly, considering. "Stay in the sky in case we need to contact someone. You can then use the phone from here if needed."

"Got it!" Krillin said, following them outside, feeling glad to feel useful! Sort of...

After the three left, the newcomer looked around the room at the people remaining. After all that excitement, Bulma also seemed to be in a mood to give the universe a few moments to throw yet another thing at her before deciding what to do next.

Vegeta, still scowling, arms folded, caught eye contact with the newcomer. "What are you looking at?" he said.

In the mesh-topped playpen, baby Trunks rattled his toy again, and giggled.

The ringing of a telephone was heard. Bulma walked over to a side table next to one of the couches and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?... Oh, hi, Yamcha! How have you been!... Oh?... That sounds exciting; I can't wait to hear about it!... Oh, wait, I should check with my new guest!"

She turned to look at the newcomer. "An old friend wants to stop by; do you want to meet him?" The newcomer smiled, and nodded. Behind him, Vegeta frowned and rolled his eyes, but Bulma pretended not to notice.

"Sounds great, then; I'll make sure to have something good prepared!... Oh, I think he's in the sky right now, should I take a message?" She pulled a pen and a pad of paper out of a drawer in the table. "If I see him before you get here, I'll ask him to stay too, and let him know you'll be here... Sounds great, see you then!"

After hanging up the phone, she turned to face the others, still smiling. "Yamcha and Pu'ar will be joining us for dinner. He says he has exciting news he wants to tell us in person!"

Vegeta made an indistinct grumbling sound, looking away from everyone.

Then, a small, yellow robot rolled into the room, through the door to the tree-room. It was balanced on a pogo-stick-like leg, ending in a single wheel. Its body was almost rectangular, but slightly wider at the top. A single, blue camera lens, pivoted around on the front. It raised its spindly arms to the sides. "Miss Bulma!" it said, enthusiastically. "The room you requested has been prepared!"

"Oh, what good timing!" said Bulma, smiling. She looked at the newcomer. "You can get settled in and get some rest between now and dinner." She said to the little robot, motioning towards the newcomer, "Here's our new guest!"

The robot rolled over to him and slowly spun in place, arms out and up again. "I hope you like the room, new friend! Follow, meeeeeeeeeeee!" It started rolling through the door back to the tree-room. The newcomer looked around the room one more time. He looked at Bulma, and gave her a smile, and a nod. She smiled back and waved. He looked at Vegeta, and gave him a smile, and a nod. Vegeta made another grumbling sound and continued frowning. The newcomer followed the little robot through the door.

They went through the tree-room, down a hallway, around a corner, up a staircase, and along another hallway. The little robot was telling a story, but the newcomer didn't hear most of it, trying to actually remember the route they were taking this time. If he was going to be staying here, he should learn his way around, at least. They stopped in front of a door.

"...and that's why they call me 'Charlie-Lambda-Alpha-Paragon'. Or 'Charlie' for short! Here we are!" The little robot turned the doorknob with one of his spindly arms and rolled in, still as enthusiastic as ever. The newcomer followed the little robot through the doorway, as the little robot turned and stood next to the doorway, underneath a button-pad on the wall next to the door.

"You might have noticed already, the location's intercom system! You can reach me at any time by pushing the *green* button here on the *bottom left* and asking for 'Charlie'." He pointed at the bottom-left button, larger than most of the others, which was indeed green. "The *red* button on the *bottom right* is the 'panic' button. *Only* push it in emergencies. Or if you want your arms ripped off!" The newcomer blinked, surprised, and surmising there must be a story behind that description. The bottom-right button the little robot pointed to, also larger than most of the others, was indeed red.

"You will now be tested," Charlie continued, putting his arms at his sides. "Please press the green button, and ask for me." The newcomer went to the button pad. The buttons all had symbols on them, but he couldn't make sense of any of them. This was intriguing, but he would have to consider this further at some other time. He pressed the green button as instructed, and said "Hey, Charlie?"

A small "ding" sound came from the little robot, as a little light on its top lit up. Charlie's voice came through the speaker next to the buttons. "Congratulations! You have successfully opened communications with me through the location's intercom system! Now, for your second test, point to, but do *not* press, the red button! Unless of course you want your arms ripped off, in which case go right ahead!"

The cheerfulness with which that was mentioned--again--was somewhat unnerving. The newcomer pointed to the red button as instructed, careful not to actually touch it.

"Very good!" the little robot said, voice still coming through the intercom speaker. "You have passed both portions of the Introductory Test of Usage of the Location's Intercom System. Congratulations!"

Charlie then went around the room, indicating features with a high likelihood of usefulness. The bed, the dresser, the closet, the desk, even an entire bathroom allocated to just this room.

"...and there have even been clothes laid out for you, in case you would like to have a shower or bath!"

The newcomer saw indeed the clothing laid out near the shower in the bathroom. The boots seemed reasonable enough, but he planned to continue wearing his own. They seemed to have come through normally, as opposed to the weird superposition/patchwork thing that had happened to the rest of the outfit he'd been wearing. There was also what appeared to be similar to a vest or jacket, thick, sleeveless but with the shoulders sticking out slightly, and a zipper down the front. But it was a bit long, extending to the upper thighs, and the zipper didn't extend below the attached belt at the waist. He had the sneaking suspicion this was not actually a jacket. With it, were what appeared to be skin-tight leggings, and a long-sleeved shirt of similar material. Less fragile than they first appeared, thankfully enough, and the probably-not-really-a-jacket did at least have the good sense to have plenty of pockets, but this selection of clothing seemed... sub-optimal. And that was even before the pre-selected undergarments had been observed. These appeared to have some sort of logo on them, of two concentric circles, broken on the right side. That was, however, not the issue.

"...Charlie? Are you still here?"

"Indeed, I am!" the little robot said, never lacking enthusiasm. 

"Could you please... go fetch Bulma for me?"

"Yes, maaaaaa'am!" the little robot said, wheeling away down the hall. The newcomer blushed very hard, suspicions confirmed.

The newcomer left the door open and sat on the bed, still comfortably bundled up in the blanket from Piccolo. Soon thereafter, the sound of a single wheel could be heard approaching, accompanied by footsteps. Bulma appeared in the open doorway and knocked lightly on the door-frame.

"Hi, need something?" she asked.

"Hi, I uh, had a question... about the clothes that were laid out..." the newcomer said.

"Oh?"

"Well, I know the place I am from is different from here. And I don't yet know just how different. So this might be one of the differences, and I might just be misinterpreting, but..." the newcomer paused, in search of words.

Bulma waited in silence for the next sentence.

"It's just... where I'm from... this outfit would be seen as... distinctly feminine?" The newcomer looked at Bulma apologetically. "Is that also the case here?"

Bulma blinked a couple of times. "Well, compared to most women's clothing, it's very practical. It is very sturdy, and has lots of pockets, that are actually big enough to put things in. But no, it's not like you'd get mistaken for a guy wearing this."

The newcomer blushed, looked away, and tried frantically to find words for a new sentence. "Do I... can I... Is there... uh..."

"If this doesn't fit your style, we can get you something else," Bulma said. "If you don't mind wearing company merch, I can get you something in any color and style you like within minutes. But if you don't want to look like a walking billboard, we're limited to things belonging to people in this house, until we can get you to a store where we can take you more properly shopping."

The newcomer looked instantly relieved. "Can I see the choices? Of the merch?"

"Certainly!" Bulma walked over to the desk and pulled a tablet out of one of the drawers. She tapped a few times, and handed it to the newcomer. "Here, you can browse around here for whatever you like. You can put a day or two worth of things into the cart and I'll finish the order for you to have it brought here for you. It's all coming from storage in the basement so it'll get here really fast. Then we can get you to a store soon, so you can have more choices."

The interface in the tablet seemed familiar enough. It looked like any online store. But the newcomer could not read the writing. Luckily, other symbols like arrows and the cart were still familiar. The newcomer chose a pair of cargo pants and a dark t-shirt, and found some comfy-looking pajamas for later. "I can't read the text, so I'm not sure if I've got the sizes right. But I think this should work."

"You appear to have chosen from the Men's section. Was that intentional?"

"Yes. ...Is that a problem?"

"Not a problem exactly, just... unusual. The sizes selected look like they should fit you fine." Bulma tapped a few more things. "Okay, Charlie should bring them in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Bulma," the newcomer said. "You really are being very helpful. Surprisingly so, actually. Is there anything I can do in return?"

"It's no problem at all!" Bulma smiled. "Did you want anything else, or would you like me to let you rest between now and dinner?"

"I could probably use the rest, thank you," the newcomer said.

A voice came from the speaker by the door. "Bulma, the phone is ringing."

"Oh! I better go get that!" she said.

"Bulma," the intercom said again, "the phone has been answered."

"That's weird. Dad should be in the lab, and Mom would usually be sitting in her garden around now..."

A voice could be heard through the hallway. "...I don't know where he is... He left a little while ago... He and Piccolo flew off somewhere. I don't know where they went, but they seemed to be in quite a hurry, whatever it was. And now I'm missing valuable training time!"

"I can't turn my back for one minute when he's in one of his moods, can I?" Bulma said. She walked swiftly out the door, shouting back down the hallway, "Vegeta! That is not how we talk to Chi-Chi!"

From the other direction, the sound of a wheel could be heard approaching.

"New frieeeeeend, I'm heeeeeeeeere!" Charlie wheeled in the door. "I have your requested clothing, ma'am!"

The newcomer winced. "Charlie?"

"Yes, new friend?"

"Please don't call me 'ma'am'."

"...'sir'?"

The newcomer sighed. "It'll do for now. Thank you."


End file.
